Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Research Vol. 2(3), pp.

57-67, May 2010

Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/jeeer
ISSN – 2141 – 2367© 2010 Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Design and implementation of a model (ADS-3G) of a

traffic light using automated solar power supply
D. A. Shalangwa
Department of Physics Adamawa State University, Mubi. Nigeria. E-mail: deshalangs3g@yahoo.com.
Accepted 14 March, 2010

In this work, a model of an automated traffic light controller (ADS - 3G) had been designed, simulated,
tested and implemented, using experimental techniques in electronic engineering, to manage the
traffics at the busy four way junctions along Sahuda road in Mubi North Adamawa State, Nigeria. The
designed was achieved with the help of 12V automated solar energy power supply, time base (555
timer), decade counter, D-flip-flop, timing sequence selector for red, green, amber and yellow light and
relay circuit for switching the appropriate light. The average volume of vehicular traffics observed for
the period of one week (4/4/07 - 11/4/07) for Masalachi, Stadium, Sahuda and Sarki roads are 2368, 1996,
1982 and 138, respectively which prompted the development of the model (ADS - 3G) to allowed 17.50,
14.00, 10.50 and 7.00 s accordingly. This model is capable of eliminating the inefficiency and likely error
associated with human traffic controller by minimizing accident and unnecessary traffic jams at the
junction.

Key words: Solar energy, traffic jam, traffic flow, traffic light controller and human traffic.

INTRODUCTION

Mubi is the second largest town in Adamawa state of
Nigeria, it lies between latitude 9° 30’ and 11° North of
the equator and longitude 13° and 13° 34’ East of
Greenwich meridians, Mubi has a land area of 4728.77
2
km and a population of 759,045 (Adebayo, 2004). Mubi
has many road junctions; but cases of accidents are
more often recorded at Sahuda road junction especially
from 2003 to date (Road Safety, 2005). Mubi has been
experiencing increasing volume of vehicles/motorcycles
traffic which leads to increased in the risk of accident
occasioned by motorists contending over right of lay in
the roads. There are also problems of traffic jam on the
road. The situation becomes worse on daily basis, at the
road junction and much more critical at the Sahuda road
junction. Accident generally leads to loss of life,
destruction of vehicle and bring unnecessary delay to
vehicles and also the solar energy power supply is been
introduced in this design because of the inconsistency of
electrical power supply by the Power Holding Company
of Nigeria (PHCN), sometimes the power supply is less
than eight hours in a day which consequently renders the
traffic light controller useless. It also has some
advantages over electrical power such as it is free in
nature, easy to maintain, relatively cheap, less hazardous
and the problems of pollution in electrical power has been
eliminated in the solar energy (Website, 2007).
To address these problems up front the demand for traffic
light controller becomes necessary and this prompted the
emergence of this work (Figure 1).
The traffic light controller is a device that manages free
flow of traffics along three, or more road junctions. The
device has a sequence selector for red, green, amber
and a yellow light that indicates present state of the traffic
flow. Here green colored light mean “Go”, which permits
entry into the intersection. Red coloured light means
“Stop”; which prohibits entry into the junction. Amber light
allows entry of traffic but requires clearance of
intersection; and, yellow light means “Fault” indicating
that there is a fault. Here, the yellow light will remain on
until the fault is cleared. The device also consists of time
base (555 timer), decade counter D-flip flop and relay
circuit for switching the appropriate light. The automated
traffic light controller was so designed on the basis of
electronic instrumentation and experimental techniques in
electronic engineering so as to allow more time of traffic
flow for more busy roads across the junctions while less
time for less busy roads, as others remain stand still to
avoid collision. The traffic light controller ensures that the
waiting vehicles/motorcycles are not unnecessarily
delayed. This traffic light controller is capable of
successfully managing the flow of traffics at the Sahuda
road junctions in Mubi North in Adamawa state, Nigeria.
58 J. Electrical Electron. Eng. Res.
Figure 1. Map Mubi showing road network and the study area.
THEORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ELECTRONIC
COMPONENTS USED
Power supply
The design used 12V rechargeable battery and solar
panel from sunlight. The circuit consist of oscillator and a
regulator transistor, the solar energy charge the battery
when sunlight is bright enough. A diode is required
between the panel and the battery as it leak 1 mA from
the battery when it is not illuminated (Website, 2007).
The regulator transistor is designed to limit the output
to 12V; this voltage will be maintain over the capability of
the circuit, the transistor oscillator is a high current type
as it is turned ON for a very short time of period to
saturate the core of the transformer. The energy is then
released as a high voltage pulse. These pulses are then
passed to the electrolytic capacitor and appear as a 12V
supply as a supply to the traffic light controller circuit. The
supply can be made automatic by adding a 1 KΩ resistor
and diode (INA 148) as in Figure 2(a). When the power
supply is connected to the main circuit it starts operation
satisfactorily (Frank, 2004) and circuit is further simulated
as shown in Figure 2(b) to ascertain the technical
function of the circuit.
The oscillator
The 555 timer was used in the design as a stable mode
 Shalangwa 59

T1 D4
1N4001

D5
1N4148
D3
1N4148
+ SC
R9 12V
3.3k
R7 R6
1k 1k
C5
100uF + V2
R10 12V
1.5k Q2
2N2222
Q1
2N2222
R11
2.2k

Figure 2(a). Solar energy power supply unit.

Figure 2(b). Simulated result of solar energy power supply (DC output Voltage).
60 J. Electrical Electron. Eng. Res.

Figure 3(a). An oscillator circuit.

Figure 3(b). Simulated result of an oscilator circuit.

configured to operate as a multivibrator as shown in given by

Figure 3a. The oscillator generates pulse by charging and
discharging the capacitor C such that the charging time is T1 =In2 (R1 +R2) C1 (1)
 Shalangwa 61

Figure 4(a). Switching and Interfacing circuit.

Similarly the standard discharging time is given by (Paul, the diode current (Charles, 1979; Loveday, 1984) and
1995) circuit is simulated as shown in Figure 3(b).

T2 =In2R2C1
Where the T1 and T2 stands for the charging and
discharging time respectively (Tony, 2001; Ronald, 2001).
The total period taking by the capacitor to charged up
completely and discharged is given by
(2)
Switching/interfacing circuit
The switching circuit as shown in Figure 4a is built on an
NPN transistor with a β = 40; where β represents the gain
of NPN transistor, applying Kirchoff’s voltage Law to the
circuit it yields.

T =T1 + T2 (3) VCC − I B RB − VBE = 0

So that the frequency of the oscillation can be computed
using the following expression as (Ali, 2007) V CC − V BE
IB = (6)
RB
1
F= (4)
T I C = βI B (7)

Where IB is the base current; β is the current amplifier

Indicator stage
and Ic is the collector current is controlled by base current
(Jones, 1993; Hughes, 2004).
The indicator stage consists of resistor R3 and diode D1
as shown in Figure 3a. Here the diode D1 becomes “on”
only when the clock pulse is generated. The value R3 was
The interfacing circuit
obtained using simple ohm’s law, given by
The interfacing circuit in Figure 4(a) simply involves
Vcc − Vd interfacing the switching circuit through the relay to the
R3= (5) signal that indicates traffic flow controller condition at any
Id particular point in time. The relay has two double contacts
which are connected to the Red and Green light while the
Where Vd is the diode drop; Vcc is the supply voltage Id is other double contact is connected to Amber and yellow
62 J. Electrical Electron. Eng. Res.
Figure 4(b). Simulated result of Switching and interfacing circuit (DC voltage).
light. On the double contact relay, the Red is connected
normally to the closed path and Green to the opened
path. When energized as a result of the transistor
conducting at that instant, the Red path and the other
path will open for the green light to come on. Similarly the
other double contact will be energized for the Amber to
come up when the transistor is conducting, (Morley,
1994; Ralph and Richard, 1992) and circuit is simulated
as shown in Figure 4(b).
The counter circuit
The counter circuit as shown in Figure 5 is built on an IC
(4017). Such that when the reset (pin 15) of the counter
is taken HIGH, the counter will make the output “0” to go
HIGH (1). When ‘CLOCK INHIBIT’ pin 13 is taken to
HIGH, the counter will FREEZE on the output that is
currently HIGH. The reset (pin 15) is connected to the
supply via R5 and C3 to the earth, the reset is achieved

Figure 5. Counter circuit.
when C3 is supplied; since voltage across the capacitor
cannot change instantaneously this makes the voltage
across it to be zero. C3 then start to change and when
fully charged creates an open circuit making R5 to take
(pin 15) to ground; this process continues for the twenty
(20) counting sequence (Onohaebi, 2006; Theraja and
Theraja, 1997).
DESIGN PROCEDURES
The design of the automated traffic light controller circuit
took the following stages; as shown in Figure 6.
Power supply
The only component that has to make in the transformer,
is the core of a 20 mH choke is used and re-wound with
two winding and remove the five winding, the first winding
is 60 turns and the ends are connected to the pins at the
end of the core. The other winding is 35 turns and has
flying leads on the board. The 35 turns winding must be
connected in a special way to provide a positive voltage
to the base of the oscillator transistor, the operation of the
circuit itself depend on the direction of the winding
relative to the other.
The oscillator
The value of the capacitor C that generated a pulse by
charging and discharging was computed using Equation
(1) as 225 µF with T1 = 3.5s, R1 = 1 kΩ and R2 = 10 kΩ.
But for practical purposes, the value of the capacitor C1
chosen from data book was C1 = 220 µF as the nearest
available value (ECG, 2000). The time (T2) taken for the
capacitor C1 to be discharged was computed using
Equation (2) as 1.5 s and the frequency of the oscillation
of the signal from Equation (4), was also computed to be
0.2 Hz.
Shalangwa 63
Indicator stage
The value of R3 was computed from Equation (5) as R3 =
10 kΩ with Vd = 2V and Id = 10 mA.
Switching circuit
The transistor base current was obtained from Equation
(6) as IB = 10mA with Vcc = +12V, VBE = 0.7V and RB = 10
KΩ while the collector current was computed from
Equation (7) as Ic = 0.04A since β = 40.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The materials used for the design and its component rating is as
follows 12V automated solar energy power supply; Diodes IN4001;
Capacitors as filters; IC regulator (KA 7812); Oscillator (555 timer)
as astable, +12V; Counter (Vcc=12V), +12V; Switching circuit
consist of indicator with 12V, 20 mA and R=320Ω, NPN transistor
(hfe=40, Vbe=0.7V); capacitor 220µf and diode at Vcc = 12V;
Interfacing circuit with relay type Jzc20 (4088), 10A, 12V DC with
coil resistance of 320 Ω and Stop watch
Method of data collection
The traffic volume at the busy four - ways junction along sahuda
Road in Mubi North, Adamawa state Nigeria was observed and
documented at two-hourly intervals from (6:00 am - 10:00 pm) daily
for the period of one week. The resulting volume of traffic across
the junction obtained from the field survey was tabulated as shown
in Table 1.
Methods of design
The method employed in the design was an adaptation of the
standard traffic light controller, although in this design the power
supply utilizes an automated solar energy instead of the know
electrical power supply that is more generally used in Nigeria.
In this work, a modeled area controlled by the traffic light was
constructed on wooden board (100 cm in length and 70 cm in
width), which shows the landmark of the four-ways junction. The
direction of the traffic flow and the respective traffic light poles were
erected on the side of each road. The height of the standard poles
is 30 cm with holes were drilled to fix the bulb at the top end of the
poles made of timber wood.
The test carried out involved the operation of the controlled traffic
light model and observation of each bulb. In the test, the “on or off”
times for each bulb are the corresponding “1 or 0” shown in Table
2.
Operational principle of the traffic light controller
When the system is powered on, the oscillator starts producing
pulses, which are used to clock the counter. The outputs of the
counter are fed into a logic AND Gate selectively in a D flip-flop
circuit. The output of the gate switches the bipolar transistor, which
controls the light through the relays. The light is then addressed
through the relay as it switches ON while the others remain OFF.
64 J. Electrical Electron. Eng. Res.

Expander
Power Oscillator Counter
supply

Switching/
Interfacing
circuit

Figure 6. Block diagram of traffic light controller.

Table 1. The average volume of traffic across the four-way

junction.

Time Sahuda Masalchi Stadium Sarki

6-8 am 100 180 90 10
8-10 am 420 586 480 30
10-12 noon 318 310 324 20
12-2 pm 207 182 200 17
2-4 pm 188 206 192 32
4-6 pm 412 571 418 12
6-8 pm 218 233 222 11
8-10 pm 80 100 70 06
Total 1982 2368 1996 138
Source. Field survey, 2007.

Table 2. Traffic light controller transmission of the designed model.

Sarki Rd. Stadium Rd Sahuda Rd Masalachi Rd

RAGY RAGY RAGY RAGY
1010 1000 1000 1000 Figure 7. An analysis of average volume of traffic across the four –
way junctions.
0110 1100 1000 1000
1000 0010 1000 1000
1000 0010 1000 1000
1000 0010 1000 1000 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
1000 0110 1000 1000
1000 1000 1000 1000
Figure 7 presents the average volume of traffic across
the four-way junction in Sahuda road Mubi town. The
1000 1000 0010 1000
observations of vehicular traffic at the junction made for
1000 1000 0010 1000
the period of one week revealed that Masalachi road has
1000 1000 0110 1100 the heaviest vehicular flow (2368) , followed by Stadium
1000 1000 1000 0010 road (1996), Sahuda road (1982) and lastly with Sarki
1000 1000 1000 0010 road (138) having the lowest flow ( with just 6 ± 0.2% of
1000 1000 1000 0010 the highest flow). The traffic light controller was designed
1000 1000 1000 0010 in such a way that more time is given to busy roads while
1100 1000 1000 0110 less time for less busy road accordingly. The maximum
R = Red light, A = Amber light, G = Green light, Y = Yellow light, 1 = time given to roads based on vehicular traffic flow follows:
ON, 0 = OFF. Masalachi road (17.50 s), stadium road (14.00 s),
 Shalangwa 65

the start count again. There are fifteen (15) counts in all,
implying that each count sequence has duration of 52.5s,
based on this, the timing for the traffic light controller was
developed for the four roads intersection at the four way -
junctions as presented in Figure 8. The 3.5 s was chosen
to ensure that sufficient number of waiting vehicles
/motorcycles are passed.
This model has achieved simplification of timing for
traffic light controller as shown in Table 3. Here the ON
time and OFF time were computed based on the
numbers of 1’s or 0’s with each count representing 3.5 s
while 0 represents no time. In Masalchi road for instance
there are five 1’s. Therefore the ON time is (17.5 s) while
the OFF time is 35.00 s making a total of 52.5 s. This was
also applied to the other roads junction; for Stadium road
ON time is 14.00 s, OFF time is 38.50 s; for Sahuda road
the ON time is 10.50 s, while OFF time is 42.00 s; and
Sarki road ON time is 7.00 s, OFF time 45.50 s.
Figure 9 compares the design value and practical value
recorded when the test of the model was carried out as
shown in Table 4. The test carried out involved the
Figure 8. An analysis of timing for the traffic light controller.
operation of the controller and observation of each bulb.
In the test, the “ON and OFF” times for each bulb are the
corresponding “1 or 0” with an insignificant error in
Table 3. Simplification of timing traffic light controller. reading of ± 0.05 counted in some values as shown in
Table 5. This value of error has no effect on the efficiency
Signal Colored On Time Off time of the system since it is very negligible.
(Head) Bulbs (sec) (sec) The break down of the traffic light controller
Red 45.50 7.00
transmission design values in abnormal situation
presented in Table 6 revealed that Red light of the traffic
Amber 7.00 45.50
Sarki road controller was completely ON for the whole 52.5 s while
Green 7.00 45.00
Yellow light flashes in every 3.5 s indicating the presence
Yellow 0.00 0.00 of faults in the traffic light controller.
Figure 10 gives the simplification of the traffic light
Red 38.50 14.00 controller in abnormal condition meaning that when any
Amber 7.00 45.00 fault is developed in the traffic light controller, the Red
Stadium road
Green 14.00 38.50 light is completely ON for the period of 52.50 s while OFF
Yellow 0.00 0.00 will become 0.00, consequently, the Yellow light will keep
flashing continuously at an interval of every 3.5 s, with an
Red 42.50 10.50 ON time of 24.50 s, while OFF time becomes 28.00 s.
Amber 7.00 45.50 Here the Amber and Green lights will have their ON time
Sahuda road as 0.00 seconds and OFF is 52.50 s.
Green 10.50 42.00
Yellow 0.00 0.00

Conclusion
Red 35.50 17.50
Amber 7.00 45.50 The design of automated traffic light controller was
Masalachi road
Green 17.50 35.00 achieved successfully with the help of automated solar
Yellow 0.00 0.00 energy power supply, 555 timer connected in astable
mode, decade counter, relay circuit and timing sequence
selector for red, green, amber and yellow light. The
Yellow light was also used in the circuit to indicate
Sahuda (10.50 s) and Sarki (7.00 s). presence of faults in the automated traffic light controller.
Table 2 shows that each count of the controller had The automated 12V solar energy power supply.
duration of 3.5 s after which a transmission was made to The traffic light controller was developed to allow more
the next count. The transition of the counter from one time for busy roads while less busy roads attracted less
count to another is continuous until the last count time; this model was designed, implemented and tested
sequence was reached after which the counter returns to with a satisfactory operation and performance efficiency.
66 J. Electrical Electron. Eng. Res.

Figure 9. An analysis of the timing for each bulb.

Table 4. Break down of the timing for each bulb.

Designed values Practical values

Signal (head) Colored bulbs
On time Off time On time Off time
Red 45.50 7.00 45.50 7.00
Amber 7.00 45.00 7.00 45.50
Sarki road
Green 7.00 45.50 7.00 45.50
Yellow 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Red 38.50 14.00 38.50 14.00

Amber 7.00 45.50 7.00 45.50
Stadium road
Green 14.00 38.50 14.50 38.00
Yellow 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Red 42.50 10.50 42.50 10.00

Amber 7.00 45.50 7.00 45.50
Sahuda road
Green 10.50 42.00 10.50 42.50
Yellow 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Red 35.50 17.50 35.00 17.50

Amber 7.00 45.00 7.00 45.50
Masalachi road
Green 17.50 35.00 17.50 35.00
Yellow 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

It is recommended that further improvement on the occurs. This model will certainly eliminate the inefficiency
system may be required to incorporate a device that can associated with human traffic controller, also minimized
rectify the fault immediately, in case such situation incessant accident and unnecessary traffic jams at
 Shalangwa 67

Table 6. The simplification of the traffic light in abnormal

condition

Signal Colored On time Off time

(Head) Bulbs (sec) (sec)
Red 52.50 0.00
Amber 0.00 52.50
Sarki road
Green 0.00 52.50
Yellow 24.50 28.00

Red 52.50 0.00

Amber 0.00 52.50
Stadium road
Green 0.00 52.50
Yellow 24.50 28.00
Figure 10. An analysis of traffic light in abnormal condition.

Red 52.50 0.00

Amber 0.00 52.50
Table 5. Traffic light controller transmission design values in Sahuda road
abnormal condition. Green 0.00 52.50
Yellow 24.50 28.00
Sarki Rd. Stadium Rd Sahuda Rd Masalachi Rd
RAGY RAGY RAGY RAGY Red 52.50 0.00
1001 1001 1001 1001 Amber 0.00 52.00
Masalachi road
1000 1000 1000 100 Green 0.00 52.00
1001 1001 1001 1001 Yellow 24.50 28.00
1000 1000 1000 1000
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